He is currently warded in an isolation room at Changi General Hospital (CGH).

He is employed as a housekeeper at CGH. Prior to hospital admission, he had gone to work for about two hours on Mar. 30.

Case details

Here are the details of the 47 new cases announced on Tuesday:

Update on previously-confirmed cases

To date, a total of 240 people have fully recovered from the infection and have been discharged from hospitals or community isolation facilities.

Of the 423 confirmed cases who are still in hospital, most are stable or improving.

22 cases — a new high since the beginning of the outbreak — are critically ill and being cared for in the intensive care unit (ICU)

260 cases who are clinically well but still test positive for Covid-19 are isolated and cared for at Concord International Hospital, Mount Elizabeth Hospital, Gleneagles Hospital and the Community Isolation Facility at D’Resort NTUC.

Three have passed away from complications due to Covid-19 infection.

As of Mar. 31 at 12pm, MOH has identified 13,452 close contacts who have been quarantined. Of these, 4,713 are currently quarantined, and 8,739 have completed their quarantine.

Safe distancing important

"As the virus spreads across the world, there is now strong evidence that safe distancing is a very important measure to stop and slow down the transmission.

And that's why today, even our press conference is practising safe distancing by having a video connection instead of a physical press conference".

The Ministry of Health (MOH)'s Director of Medical Services Kenneth Mak said MOH has noticed patterns in the local linked cases announced so far. Many were connected by activity, including social gatherings, living together, working together, and other social activities including singing classes.

"This reinforces, therefore, the importance of our social measures to enhance physical distancing and safe separation", he added.

He called for people who are sick to avoid going back to work or to engage in social activities that put them in close contact with others.

Instead, he said, they should go see a doctor as soon as possible, and to respect the doctor's medical certificate (MC) by not going out and continuing with their social activities and work during the period of the MC.

Mak referenced the unlinked cases, attributing many of them to people who have been exposed to people who were infected but nonetheless continued their activities:

"The number of unlinked cases that we have are a reflection of exposures that these individuals have had already in the past.

And it's often as a result of exposure to people who are infected, who persist on in these activities. And it's therefore important for all of us to therefore assist in controlling the creation and propagation of clusters by obeying these measures".